For operators of mobile networks it is beneficial to be aware of various types of information related to the performance of the mobile network, such as amounts of transmitted data in relation to certain network nodes, groups of users geographical area, or the like. For example, such information can be used as a basis for making operational decisions, e.g., investment decisions such as whether to invest in core or radio network infrastructure, in which locations to make investments in network infrastructure, or the like. Other examples of such operational decisions are product decisions, e.g., in the form of product offerings, subscriber monetization, market segmentation, or the like. The information may also be used to take decisions to address subscriber churn or prevent network disturbances, e.g., in the form of network congestions.
Gathering such information in a mobile network can also be referred to as network intelligence. Network intelligence may involve the capability to monitor operation of various network nodes, e.g., by inspecting data traffic, in order to gather the information and also the ability to take decisions on the basis of the gathered information. Network intelligence may be used as middleware to capture information and supply the captured information to network operator applications for bandwidth management, traffic shaping, policy management, charging and billing, service assurance, revenue assurance, or the like.
However, the information needed for network intelligence may need to be obtained from various types of network nodes which are not coordinated and may have different capabilities to provide parts of the needed information. This may result in duplication of information, a need to deal with different report formats, different time intervals for reporting information, or the like. For example, different types of nodes may provide different types of interfaces for reporting the information. Also, different nodes may need to be individually configured for providing parts of the information, which may result in significant signaling overhead and also affect performance of the nodes. This in turn may in turn prevent application of network intelligence to complex types of information.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques which allow for efficiently generating network statistics of a mobile network.